page_title: Mulled wine
section_title: In traditional culture
hierarchical_section_title: Mulled wine / Britain / In traditional culture
caption_attribution_description: Title Page of "Beeton's Book of Household Management"
context_page_description: Mulled wine, also known as spiced wine, is a beverage usually made with red wine along with various mulling spices and sometimes raisins. It is served hot or warm and is alcoholic, although there are non-alcoholic versions of it. It is a traditional drink during winter, especially around Christmas. It is served at Christmas markets in Europe.
context_section_description: Over the years the recipe for mulled wine has evolved with the tastes and fashions of the time. One Victorian example of this is Smoking Bishop, mentioned by Charles Dickens but no longer drunk or known in modern culture. A more traditional recipe can be found in Mrs Beeton's Book of Household Management at paragraph 1961 on page 929 to 930 of the revised edition dated 1869:
  TO MULL WINE.
  INGREDIENTS.- To every pint of wine allow 1 large cupful of water, sugar and spice to taste.
  Mode.-In making preparations like the above, it is very difficult to give the exact proportions of ingredients like sugar and spice, as what quantity might suit one person would be to another quite distasteful. Boil the spice in the water until the flavour is extracted, then add the wine and sugar, and bring the whole to the boiling-point, then serve with strips of crisp dry toast, or with biscuits. The spices usually used for mulled wine are cloves, grated nutmeg, and cinnamon or mace. Any kind of wine may be mulled, but port and claret are those usually selected for the purpose; and the latter requires a very large proportion of sugar. The vessel that the wine is boiled in must be delicately cleaned, and should be kept exclusively for the purpose. Small tin warmers may be purchased for a trifle, which are more suitable than saucepans, as, if the latter are not scrupulously clean; they spoil the wine, by imparting to it a very disagreeable flavour. These warmers should be used for no other purpose.
caption: The cover of Mrs. Beeton's book
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